Clark's First "Real" Meal

Even though Clark had his 4 month appointment almost a month ago and the doctor told us we could start solid foods, we didn't give them to him until last night. Clint has been doing a Mid-West Vet rotation which has had him in Omaha, NE during the week and coming home during the weekend and then last week he was in Cali. So I didn't want to start him on solids until Clint's schedule was more normal. I think it was successful!

Clark saying he's ready for some food.


First bite:


Not sure he liked it at first. He didn't really know what to do with it.


Now it's Mom's turn to give Clark some food. Looks like he likes it a lot more.

Visit to Sunny California!

This week Clark and I went to California to visit his grandparents and to get away from this stinking cold, stupid snowy weather! It didn't go below 77 the entire time we were there. We had a blast! Clark and I got to on walks, we had a lot of fun visiting with our family and never had to put on coats and sweaters and gloves and hats.
Clark did SUPER on the plane rides. The only time he cried was when the plane landed in O.C. and he wasn't ready to be awake. So he screamed just a little. I think it was more from the awful coffee breath of the two people sitting next to us that made the air toxic every time they opened their mouths!

Along with the plane rides, Clark was totally awesome the entire time we were there.

Clark and his Moogie and Mimi


My mom helped me give Clark a bath. Clint and I usually bathe him in one of those baths that you put in the sink. He normally loves the bath but getting a bath in the sink was not for him. Like most of Clark's bath first, he screamed the entire time. So he got sponge baths from then on out.


Clark watching Kurbie, my parents dog, aka the little white fluff ball and Chanel, the neighbors dog, the black lab.





Grandpa playing with Clark. He quickly learned just how much Clark spits up! This was after Clark's bath and he had to get a change of p.j.s. Grandpa also had to go take a shower and there is a picture of him after his shower ready to play with Clark again.







This are some pictures of Clark's Grandpa and Mimi watching him sleep. Grandpa acting a little goofy.









Clark and his Uncle Jack






These are some pictures of Clark and the cats playing on the ground.





This is what Clark and I came back to. About 3 inches of snow!

In the Spirit of State Assessments...

The music teacher from my school was kind enough to share this with me and I liked it and thought I would share with you all.

Sping and flowers and cute babies

FINALLY there are signs of Spring! Maybe not in the temperature, but in the growth of flowers in our garden. YIPEE!!!! Here are some pictures of our going to be pretty flowers. This year the garden won't be as glamorous as it usually is due to us moving, but at least there is a sign of new growth and warmth and of an end to this wretched, disgusting, cold, nasty winter.
You might have to look closely to the first picture, but the flowers are coming!




With flowers growing also comes the growing of babies. Clark is getting so big. He's just about to the point that I'm tired of taking the car seat out of the car and am ready to just unbuckle him and carry him places. Downfall to the carrying him places is that there is always the fear that he will spit up all over me. Also he hasn't mastered the skills of sitting up with out support so I couldn't put him into a shopping cart without fear of him falling over.

Anyways, here are some adorable pictures of Clint and Clark this weekend. I just love this first one!

"Borrowing" From Friends

Yesterday I was reading my friend Jeanette's blog and she did a decade reflection post where she shared how her life has changed over the last 10 years. Funny how 10 years ago for her she was still in high school. Guess I'm feeling old...

2000 - Finished my first year of community college at Irvine Valley. I hated high school and put as little effort into it as possible so I didn't do so hot. All I wanted to do was be at the barn riding horses. :)

Big highlight of this year was that Clint and I went to Europe for a 2 month back pack tour. Slept on trains and boats and in icky hostels that I'm sure were rat and insect infested, but worth every bug bite. We went to 8 different countries and met some very interesting people, some of which we are still friends with.

2001 - Moved to San Diego and started to attend San Diego State University.

2005 - Graduated from SDSU. Clint and I got married. Clint graduated also this year and decided to be the supporter while I completed my teaching credential program. Clint spent a lot of time sending out applications for Veterinarian Schools.

2006 - Graduated with my teaching credential and Clint got accepted to Kansas State University. Moved to Manhattan, the little apple! Rented a 3 bedroom house with a garage and yard for the dog for 400 bucks less then our 1 bedroom tiny apartment in San Diego! I also started working at Ogden Elementary as the After School Curriculum Coordinator and a Title 1 Math Teacher.

Had a miscarriage.

2007 - Got my first REAL teaching job at the same school teaching 6th graders. Man that was a difficult class, but such a fun year.

2008 - Clint told me I should try to transfer to another school, but I didn't listen. SHOULD have, but oh well.
Clint got a new car. Other good parts were that I received two great grants. First was the Technology Rich Classroom grant that allowed me to have 14 laptops in my classroom, a SMART board and a bunch of other cool technology for me and my students.
The second was I receive the Japanese Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholarship and went to Japan for 3 weeks over the summer. It was AWESOME. Clint was away doing Army training so that was my motivation to not be stuck in the little apple for 5 weeks.

2009 - Found out we were pregnant for good! Decided to work 1/2 time since we couldn't afford for me to not work. Gave birth to Clark in November! Got 10 weeks off of work instead of 6 weeks.

2010 - Clint will FINALLY be done with school! We're really looking forward to Clint graduating and moving back to California.

Drum Roll Please....

Clark had his 4 month check up today.
Stats are:
Height 25 1/4 inches 53%ile
Weight 17 lbs 13 3/4 oz 91%ile
Head Circumference 45cm 97%ile.

I thought they would tell me that he was about 15 lbs, but I was shocked when I looked at the scale and it said 17 lbs! No wonder my arms feel like they are getting a constant work out! As for all the spit up, well the doc said "it's normal" and to not worry since he's gaining weight and isn't fussy. He just said that he has Gastro Intestinal Reflux and there's not much we can do about it. Oh well.

As for other growths that Clark has made, he holds his head up very well and will stand for a long while. He loves to stand up too. He has a look in his eyes that says, "I'm a big boy!"

I totally survived him getting his shots too. It was actually worse for him then me and he screamed at the top of his lungs, but calmed down once I picked him up.

Clark has also started to test out his voice. Here is a video of him "singing" and the video ends with some nice footage of the spit-upage.


I also think that Clark will be a kid who likes his blankets. Here is a picture of him holding on to his burp rag and I thought it was totally adorable.

A Post on Blogging

Clint is away for about a month in Omaha, NE doing a Mid West Vet rotation and Clark and I have been holding down the fort during the week while he's gone. He gets to come home on the weekends thankfully! I am thankful for him coming home especially on night like tonight when the house makes creepy noises or the neighborhood is particularly active and gets me a little on edge.

Since he's gone I put some "chick flicks" on our Netflix and had Grandma come over and watch them with me. Tonight we watched Julie and Julia which was about the history of Julia Child writing her cook book and a girl named Julie who's life was in a rut and she decided to take a year and cook every recipe in Julia's cook book and blog about it. Through her blog she...well I won't ruin it for those who still haven't had the opportunity to watch, but it was great! Very chick flicky too. :) Anyways I felt like I needed to post something so here I am writing for all my, I mean our fans and I thought I would share a funny story from last week then just blab about watching a movie.

Last Sunday our friends the Merrills invited me over for dinner knowing that Clint was not going to be in town. As I was walking into their house, their oldest son, Owen, who's 4 said to me, "Jen! There's something wrong with your hair!" I thought, well the wind is blowing, like it always does, so it probably is standing on end or something. So I asked Owen, "What's wrong with it?" Owen: "It's sticking in your eyes!" Me after laughing: " Oh that's because I need a hair cut." Owen: "We do that here." Very adorable and a lucky kid who has mom that's talented enough to cut her families hair.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog about Clark's 4 month doctor's appointment. That's right, he turned 4 months yesterday. Looks stranger on "paper" then it does in my head. Can't believe he's 4 months old already. My arms and my back believe it though!